Bay couple relieved to leave Boston

The Bay couple locked down after two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon say the experience has not put them off taking part in similar events.

Matua's Stephen Blair and Judith May had just finished the Boston Marathon and made it back to their hotel when the bombs went off.The pair did not hear the explosion, despite being less than 500m from the site of the blasts, and only found out through a television newsflash.

"We'd finished and just got back to the hotel and I turned on the TV to see who had won and it must have just happened. We didn't hear the blast. We could hear all the sirens."

The couple were advised not to leave the hotel after the explosions and security there was beefed up.

"[Monday night] there were not many people in the streets. They had cops in the hotel checking we were all guests. All the restaurants were closed in town. It was close to normal [Tuesday morning].

The couple checked out of their hotel yesterday as planned and headed down state to Cape Cod for a few days before arriving home on Sunday. "We left pretty early.

It was pretty good to get out," Ms May said. "Once you get out of town you're sort of removed from it. There's still a lot of people talking about it and a lot of angry people."

Mr Blair said he did not think he would hesitate to take part in other marathons. "At the moment it certainly wouldn't put me off. I'd love to do the London Marathon and some of the other big ones. I hope it won't put people off doing the Boston Marathon which is a pretty iconic event."